Data company to build huge center in Inverness

The new building, which is expected to house 25 ViaWest employees and upward of an additional 100 third-party workers per week, will serve as a storage space for a multitude of servers and various computer equipment for their clients.

“We provide services to medium- to large-size enterprises specifically related to IT infrastructure services,” said ViaWest CFO Mike Krza, adding that the company specializes in cloud service, colocation and management services.

Projected completion for the new building, the company’s fifth in Colorado, is anticipated for March 2014. The building, to be located on a 10-acre site on the northeast corner of South Peoria Street and Compark Boulevard, will serve both local clients such as Hitachi and Arrow, as well as out-of-state companies.

“The out-of-state businesses are more focused on disaster recovery,” Krza said. “This climate and the low occurrence of natural disasters in the region tend to attract folks from both coasts. It is a large attraction for them to put their disaster recovery here.”

ViaWest currently has 330 employees spread across six different states with the senior management and back office staff all located in Greenwood Village. The 25 employees coming to Douglas County are expected to make an average of $60,000 annually, Krza said.

An official county welcome

The data company received a boost from Douglas County officials July 30 when the commissioners unanimously agreed to waive business personal property taxes for a 10-year time frame estimated to be close to $3 million, as well as another $200,000 in engineering, planning, zoning, building and permit fees.

“This is a continuation of our economic development efforts to help insure our financial viability in this county,” said Commissioner Jack Hilbert. “Part of the reason we haven’t had the huge drops, but have had actual gains, are programs like these.

“Some people say, why are you doing this? Well, the fact of the matter is, a very small investment up front generates a huge investment on the back end. Typically they don’t amount to this amount (of money), but typically we don’t have something that is as capital-intensive either. These are services that our (existing) clients will be using and also reasons why new clients will want to come here.”